User blog:Drysonbennington/The Garden of Ewya
First off to build your Garden of Ewya you have to understand what and why you are planting the plants that you are. You are the only one that knows how your garden makes you feel which should be kept to yourself and only shared with those that are similar Eywan Gardener's. Each time you plant a flower or plant in your Garden of Eywa it's life will be a part of your life one in the same, a connection to the very life of the planet itself. When choosing your plants and flowers for your garden be very selective in what you chose. There are many colorful plants that can be planted but the ones that you are looking for are the ones that are vibrant in colors and are mixed. The colors of the flower petals should be soft yet mixed so that the lighting will make them seem to glow from within but will still not create a blinding light that will cause people to not want to look at them. The first item that you will need is a black light bulb or black light that can be bought from any novelty store or your local home improvement store like Lowes, Home Depot , DIY. If you buy the bulb make sure that it fits into a standard light socket. Next chose the plants and flowers that you might think would be responsive to black light. This will be the most difficult part of the process as it is very difficult to determine which flowers and plants are responsive to the black light before purchasing them. You might ask the home improvement center that you goto if you can use a closed room that has an outlet to plug your black light into to test if the plant is black light responsive or you can wait until you get home and use your black light lamp or bulb so that you can feel the transference of Ewya on a personal level without everyone elses essence effecting your bonding with Ewya. Which ever place you decide to test your plant what you are looking for is the best side of the plant that is most responsive to the black light. For the time being the best side will be the side that faces towards everyone that would be looking at your Garden. I would chose one plant each time so that you do not spend your money on plants and flowers that do not respond to the black light, but are responsive to black light which is the affect that we are really trying to achieve. Remember when Pandora first came alive for Jake? That is the scene that your are trying to recreate in your Garden. When planting your plants or flowers follow the spacing instructions that come with every plant that should be located on it's tag. When plating your flaura dig the hole to twice the size of the diameter of the potting material that the plant or flower is planted in. When digging the depth of the hole dig the hole so that the sides are angled towards the bottom of the hole. This will ensure when you water your Garden or when it rains the rain will run down to the roots of plant instead of just soaking up in the ground surrounding your plant. The depth of the hole should be no less than one inch of the total height of the soil that is packed around the roots. If you bury the plant to deep you might allow fungus to grow on the stalks of the plant of flower that could kill it due to it being buried.If you have remembered what side of the plant was the best side that was the most responsive to the black light now is when you would rotate your plant or flower. To achieve a more natural look for your Garden turn your plant different directions so that different combinations are achieved. Combinations can go something like this: Best/Worst, Worst/Worst, Worst/Best, Best/Best. When layering your Garden take the position of each layer into affect when you build the next layer. Each layer however and the position of each flower and plant will be upto you and how they are arranged will convey an Ewyan spiritual effect on you that only you will be aware of. Water the base of the plant so that an inch of standing water is present then re-fill your hole with the soil that you removed or will potting soil. To achieve a better black lighting affect place a blanket of dark material around your plant or flower and then cover with soil so that the edges cannot be seen. When you place your black light you want to make certain that you hide the black light as best as possible so that your Garden appears to glow from within. This can be achieved by using plants that are not black light responsive when the black light is turned on. You should face your black lights towards the plant or flowers and not directly towards someone that may looking at them at night. Although I have not found any outdoor black light strips or black light stringers I am certain that they are out there. Anyone wishing to post links to sites that have these types of lights it would be appreciated. The lights need to be weather proof and no bigger than a standard light bulb. I have been told that black lights do not work very well in cold weather but that remains to be seen. Here is an example of the lights that you are looking for: http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/eparty/items/Purple_Light_String_Lights___25_lights__NEW . When you place your stringer of lights with this set you can remove the bulbs that you do not need so that you can create your own lighting affect. To place these lights first locate an outlet close to the Garden. You might want to use an extension cord from the outlet to the Garden to get the most length out of the light stringer. Next you will want to place your lights around your Garden. The placement will be upto you and will convey your feelings of spirituality in being in touch with Ewya. When you place your lights make certain that they are hidden but from view behind a plant leaf that is not black light responsive as well as keeping the actual bulb off of ground so that it does not become hot and break. You might be able to buy some wooden stakes from the home improvement store and then use black zip ties to fasten the lights to the stake, make sure that both the stake and zip ties are black so that they do not glow. Once you have the the placement of your lights laid out bury the line of the stringer an inch under the ground so make sure that you give yourself enough slack to position the lights correctly. Do not get frustrated with your first attempt as it will most likely not be the result that you want, be patient with yourself and your Garden and all will come together as it should. For hanging plants: This will require some imagination and innovation on your part to create the best lighting affect. To achieve the best affect I would group the plants and flowers together and at varrying heights to create a cascading affect. Run your black lights through the middle of the axis where each pot meets the other so that you will have the shortest run as well hiding the lights out of view. The best lights to use would be the smaller black light bulbs. When you place the bulb place it at the base of the flower or plant so that the light shines up through the plant. To better hide the light bulb remove two inches of the potting soil around the roots being careful not to damage the roots. Place the plant in the pot so that the soil around the base is 2" to 3" from the top of the pot. When you water your plant make certain that you do not pour the water directly onto the light bulb as it may cause it to break. Remember some black light light bulbs can get very hot so watch how you place them around the roots and stalks or the bulb may burn the plant and kill it. One method could be to use a ceramic tube that would both protect the bulb, stalks and roots. Another accent to your Garden would be to add solar powered accent lights in various places as well as glow in the dark stones or other glow in the dark or blacklight responsive objects. The key though is to make our Garden look like it is natural and came from Pandora. Below are some images of the plants and flowers that you can use to create your Ewyan Garden: These are the types of colors of flowers that you want to look for when selecting your plants and flowers. I will be adding my own images of my Ewyan Garden as it progresses so that others can have a template to go off of. Just remember this is our Ewyan Garden, you created it and it is part of y our spirit as you are part of it. I will be sending a request to GE about designing out door blacklights especially for this type of landscaping. Category:Blog posts